New York Festivals Midas Awards has announced the Finalists for the 2018 competition. Worldwide since 2001, the Midas Awards is the only awards show to recognise excellence in financial advertising and marketing on a global scale.

The Midas Awards Grand Jury, comprised of international executives from financial and creative marketing disciplines, selected an unprecedented 317 entries as Finalists. With an impressive 12 per cent increase this year, many prominent brands and international agencies recognised the importance of being honoured for creative excellence by the Midas Awards.

“Great work demands attention,” said Scott Rose, Executive Director, Midas Awards. “And this year’s class of disruptive, entertaining, bar-raising entries did just that. The Grand Jury was fully engaged and the comments they left were filled with praise and admiration. Attention sought. Attention earned. I applaud these innovative campaigns and look forward to the Executive Jury laying their expert eyes upon them.”

International agencies competed for the top spot on the prestigious Midas Report. The following agencies are top contenders for the 2018 annual ranking report:

McCann New York with a record-breaking 65 entries advancing

McCann XBC with 20 entries moving on to the trophy round

Grey Group Hong Kong with 17

FCB Africa (Pty) Ltd with 16

Mortimer Harvey with 12

Mullen Lowe with 10

CJ Worx with 9

King James Group Johannesburg and Publicis Istanbul each saw 8 entries achieving Finalist status

Publicis, Havas Worldwide Chicago and Groupe Connect each moved forward with 6.

Global agencies employed event marketing and promotions to champion causes and boost market share. Campaigns achieving Finalist status include: Mastercard’s “Tap for Your Town” McCann Sydney. Mastercard brought Rugby legend Ritchie McCaw out of retirement for one last game. The campaign created a town rivalry to boost use of Mastercard’s tap technology resulting in the town with the most taps hosted the game.

“Charlie’s Perfect Pitch” McCann New York for client Mastercard moved on to the trophy round. The campaign featured American singer-songwriter Charlie Puth demonstrating his perfect pitch by identifying the notes from sounds from different cities before an exclusive JetBlue Card card member Priceless concert, encouraging viewers to find inspiration wherever they are travelling next.

McCann New York’s campaign “Stand Up to Cancer with Mindy Kaling” for Mastercard invited everyone to dine out using their Mastercard on October 10th and Mastercard would donate to Stand Up to Cancer to help support cancer research.

“Friend’s Again” campaign by Group Connect USA for Bank of America declared that October 17, 2017 would be the first ever “Pay Back a Friend Day” – a national holiday rallying everyone to grab the Bank of America app, settle debts and be friends again.

Integrated campaigns dominated with 22 entries in all moving on to the trophy round including: “I Want to Make That” Mortimer Harvey South Africa for Absa Corporate and Investment Banking. The campaign features a little girl with big dreams and the way she sees the world culminating in her adult version, showing she still has the bravery to imagine, and the will to make her visions a reality – defining the meaning of Africanacity for CIB.

“Innovative Business Exchange” Grey Group Hong Kong for HSBC saw 17 entries advance to the trophy round. The film series showcased how HSBC has proactively supported the journeys of different InnoTech businesses, including Green Tomato’s growth through innovation and showcasing how HSBC supported GOGOVAN to disrupt the logistics industry.

Global financial brands were in the spotlight with an impressive number of entries achieving Finalist status. Mastercard saw 68 entries advance to the trophy round from agencies around the globe. McCann New York moved forward with 47 Finalists for client Mastercard. McCann Worldgroup sp. z o.o. Poland advanced with 8 entries, McCann Sydney with 7, McCann Erickson London and McCann Canada each saw 3 entries advance. ABSA’s agencies saw 28 entries achieve Finalist status, 16 from FCB Africa (Pty) Ltd and 12 from Mortimer Harvey. Citi achieved 19 Finalists in total with Citi moving ahead with 7 entries and both Publicis and Havas Worldgroup Chicago each advanced with 6 entries.

Shortlisted entries will move on to the secondary trophy round and will be judged by the Executive Jury who will award Gold and Silver Ingots to the highest scoring entries and determine the winner for the Midas Award for Innovation and the Grand Midas Award. The results of the juries are parsed in an annual rankings brief, The Midas Report, a veritable who’s-who in the world of financial services advertising that includes the 3 individual reports: Agency, Brand and Network.

Founded in 2001, the Midas Awards is the only competition to recognise excellence in financial advertising and marketing on a global scale, honouring the World’s Best Financial Advertising in banking, brokerage, insurance, mutual funds, credit cards, real estate, accounting, and consulting. The competition invites entries in four specific categories: Products & Services, Craft, Use of Medium, and Use of Discipline.